Maria

Album: Believe Deluxe Special Edition (2012)
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Songfacts®:

  • Officially, this song is not about Mariah Yeater, the woman who falsely claimed that Justin Bieber impregnated her backstage at a concert when he was just 16. However, it was clearly inspired by the incident and the tune even contains samples from various news outlets, reporting on Yeater's allegations. At a London press conference, the Canadian singer shared that, "It's about everything I've gone through."
  • Speaking to Billboard magazine, Justin compared the song the Michael Jackson classic on the same subject. "That's my 'Billie Jean,'" he said. "It was something I wanted to get off my chest, and I could just say it in a song and get my point across without having to worry about the words I'm using in an interview."
  • Justin revealed to Britain's Fabolous magazine that he nearly quit the music business when the paternity scandal first erupted back in November 2011. "At the beginning of it all I was in Florida, away from my friends and family and I was pretty sad," he said. "I got to the point where I thought, 'I don't want to do this. I just want to be normal.' It was difficult because I'd never gone through anything like that. Usher was like, 'Prepare to have this for the rest of your career because it's not going to stop.' He's gone through some stuff and most artists go through their fair share of bull. That was just my first time."

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